Tonsillectomy Scabs- How and when do they fall off?
Regardless of the tonsillectomy method used, some sort of scab is going to form over the the area from which your tonsils have been cut, coblated, and/or cauterized.
It’s normal. It is normal. People often become obsessed with the appearance of the tonsil beds as they recover from tonsillectomy. Almost like a recently lost tooth, it can be hard to resist the temptation to explore the new landscape. This too is normal. I strongly advise against molesting the area with foreign objects. Those scabs will fall off on their own. Touching, poking, or scraping on them increases the risk of hemorrhage and you don’t want that.
Many Otoraryngologists, or ear, nose and throat, (ENT) specialists recommend eating a somewhat rough diet, (think dry toast), to keep the affected area clear of excessive tonsillectomy scab build-up. This advice is most often given in the United Kingdom and Australia. Most ENT’s in the United States advise a soft diet.
Which ever route you take, there will likely be formation of tissue that covers the tonsil beds. I recommend following the advice I give in other pages of this site; keep the throat moist, avoid sharp foods, stay hydrated, take pain medications on schedule, sleep upright if possible, and leave those tonsillectomy scabs alone. They will normally begin to slough of at about day seven or eight of your recovery.
What Happens When Tonsillectomy Scabs Fall Off
You may feel a sharp pain occasionally as the tonsillectomy scabs fall off. This is common. This is normal. There is a slight increase in risk of bleeding while tonsillectomy scabs fall off. If you do have some bleeding, try gargling with ice cold water. This will usually stop the bleeding. If this doesn’t work, and bleeding becomes profuse, call 911 or get to a hospital immediately. Don’t panic. In there relatively rare cases, health care professionals have great success at stopping the bleed.
Daily Photos of Throat After Tonsillectomy. Caution: Scabs
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I’m 32 years old on day 7. I’m glad I had the surgery but I would not wish this for anyone. My mom said that I never had tonsillitis as a child.
I have to say that water is my friend.
Ice cold water to start with and later on room temperature.
Eating a teaspoon of solid good quality deflavoured coconut oil kept in a fridge does wonders.
I haven’t really slept when the scabs started to come off. It’s terrible to wake up with burning pain and knowing that drinking water is the only thing that will save you is truly a nightmare.
Today I went to the doctor and he told me that all the scabs are off and that I am able to eat anything I want as long as it’s not to spicy.
From day 1-4 I only ate apple puree and scrambled eggs. The apple puree at least taste kind of good and very easy to swallow.
Later on I added watermelon and papaya. Both tasty and easy to swallow.
At day 5 I started feeling a little braver and I was really hungry. Real soft bread with butter and syrup. Removing the crust.
I found that bread and baked goods has a tendency to get stuck in the back of my teeth. Very painful to get out.
I then started eating raw carrots. It works beautifully. It’s rough enough to get the scabs off as well as easy to swallow. Also takes that foul taste from my mouth. 🙂
I’m still eating apple puree. It is my comfort food.
I really hope to get some sleep tonight. I’m still hiding away from every one as it is very difficult and painful to talk and people start feeling offended if you don’t say anything to them when they are trying to make conversation with you. 🙁
The basics of my tongue is still very sensitive. I really hope that it would get better soon.
My plan is to start eating normally as soon as I can move my tongue freely without too much discomfort.
Good luck to anyone who takes this challenge on.
Every day is different and has its own surprises.
I am a 29 yr male. I had swollen tonsils, always felt like there was a lump in my throat all the time, i would get nauseous often, was constantly fighting bad taste/ morning breath, tonsill stones, etc. So I went to the ENT doctor, he took one look and said “you have cryptic tonsils, I’ll definitely remove them.”
Today I am on day 5 of tonsillectomy recovery. Pain and slinging m swelling has decreased significantly. Not looking forward to scabs falling off. I read up online and followed doctors orders. Here’s my advice, what has worked for me so far and what didn’t.
1. Avoid or at least drastically limit dairy (cheese,milk,yogurt,pudding,ice-cream) and excessive sugars. Both will very quickly thicken your mucous which makes swallowing a challenge. You’ll want stuff to go down as smoothly as possible.
2. Take your pain medication as directed and on time. Not early and not late. Your body will adjust to the accurately timed routine. SKipping a pill you’ll probably regret it, pain. Take an extra and you’ll probably feel sick, elevated body temp, nauseous, headache, this is last thing you want to feel is any worse. After surgery I was given a pill at 1440 and given a prescription for 5mg Percocet. I took those every four hours on the dot… 18:40, 22:40, 02:40, 06:40, 10:40, 14:40 every day. If you skip a pill or take an extra or take it late or early you will throw off your bodies adjustment. Strictly adhere to the prescription. Also i have found this advice especially useful, it’s counterintuitive, but when you go to swallow the pill, look down and lift your head up as you swallow. It’s a good trick that makes it go down easy.
3. Drink water. Ice cold water. Lots of water, constantly. Little sips. But lots of little sips. I have been drinking about a gallon per day this way. I therefore have not experienced dry scabs because of this, and that’s because I don’t want to. And I swallow my saliva, I’m not spitting. Fluid retention and throat moistening is the goal. I just sip and swallow through the pain. The pain eventually goes away. The more and more often you swallow, the more tolerance you build up and less pain you feel. At night i try to wakeup and take sips and swallow as much as I can so that im not spending an extended amount of time allowing my scabs to dry and lose out progress on swallowing tolerance and endurance.
4. Best foods for me were soups and canned chef boyrdee pastas. Even on day one. Cream of celery. Cream of potato. (Use water, not milk). Chicken noodle. Spaghettios with or without meatballs (I chose with because I’m a carnivor). Beefaroni. Spaghetti. Frozen meals like tuna casserole. Soft bread and butter. Oyster crackers softened in soup. Oatmeal and I add bananas and brown sugar (not too much). Coffee is good, no problems, had both hot (on day 5) and iced (earlier days). Iced tea (supposedly has healing properties). Stuff like Popsicles, jello, etc were not as good for me as they thickened my mucous and made me feel kinda sick, I still snack on those but those are not my primary meal options like some other people have said.
5. This one is a real life saver. If you feel like reaching for another pill skip that and try this. It’s a natural analgesic with antibacterial and immune system stimulating effects. And do this daily, regardless of whether you need to, you’ll heal faster and less painfully. Put about 3-4 tbls of pure (lightly filtered) honey (I use Ambrosia raw and gently filtered pure honey) in about 4oz water. Microwave on high for 30 secones and sip on that. No mucous problems experienced. Follow up with pure ice-cold water.
6. Get as much rest as possible. But don’t sleep continuously without waking up to take drinks. Sleep somewhat elevated on two pillows. It helps. I’m normally a side sleeper. But this week I’ve been sleeping on my back on two staggered pillows ( bottom pillow for shoulders, top pillow for head). Don’t walk around too much or talk vocally at all. If you go to the store (walmart) almost everyday with your girlfriend to get out of the house like I did, take an electric cart, there’s no shame. I walked around one day and my throat swelled up and i felt really sick, probably from elevated blood pressure. Take it easy. Take my advice.
7. Arm & Hammer simply saline nasal mist is excellent way to keep your nose and upper airway moist and help loosen up thickened mucous. I use this stuff often. No side effects. No burning.
8. Gently gargle with warm salt water. Swish around mouth also.
9. Brush teeth after meals.
10. Ice pack on throat to reduce swelling.
11. Take mini power naps when you can.
12. Netflix and xbox one.
Hope this helps someone.
This is very similar to what I’ve been doing and are all excellent suggestions – I’ve mostly experienced discomfort rather than pain like a lot of the people complain of. The most surprising thing for me were the referred ear pain. But I would sleep very often thru the day when it was aching so I never suffered
Hello Everyone,
I am on day 5 of my surgery and i will say today and days 3 & 4 were the worse days of my life. i’ve never had so much pain. Since Day 2 my throat, chest, ears and ribcage have been in so much pain. But Day 4 my ears felt like someone had tried to pull out my ear drums with tweezers!! I had my tonsils taken out because i had tonsil stones that were the size of dimes and i was suffering from really bad nausea. Now that i got them taken out i feel like i should’ve just kept them! I haven’t been able to talk and every time i sleep i choke on my uvula. Pain meds aren’t helping too much either so i’m going to request something stronger. Cold foods and ice also burn my throat so i think i’m pretty much going to die lol. only thing i’ve been able to eat is jello so i’m just going to have to buy more of that. Good Luck everyone.
Hi, this is my 7th day and I think the scabs are beginning to fall off. What happens after they fall off completely? I thought it was supposed to feel good after they fall off, but some things I have read seem to say the opposite. Also, when will my uvula stop being so swollen?!? I still can’t speak and I wasn’t prescribed steroids to help with it.
I’m on day 10 and still a lot of scabbing and pain. I has my tonsils done, my uvula, and palette reshaped. The pallete hurts the worst. I’m still barely getting food down and my doctor says see you Wednesday??? I’ve had liquid backlogging into my throat and anything ice cold hurts like Heck!! Way worse the I thought it would be.all research I’ve seen says two to three weeks recovery yet I’m expecting back to normal Monday. All the wanted to give me was liquid Motrin. But I finally got Percocet 5 in PILLS! THIS seems it shouldn’t still be an 8/9 on pain scale? Help???????
I meant into my nose sorry
You still have you tubes in your nose?
Wow I’m 5 days behind you.exactly the same thing. I stop taking the oxi it block me up. Surgery on wed now its Sunday and I still haven’t pooped yet. For pain been using ibprophen. And it’s my bestfriend now. Tubes out tomorrow and then the process for the scabs.